One Room Schoolhouse Park

One Room Schoolhouse Park

Queens' last one-room schoolhouse occupied this
site from the time of its construction in 1879 until its demolition to make
room for a public park in 1934. The park was named under a local law introduced
by Councilmembers John D. Sabini and Helen M. Marshall, approved by the City
Council, and signed into law by Mayor Giuliani in 1996.

Compulsory school was first required by legislation
in New York State in 1874, only five years before the one room schoolhouse opened.
Last called P.S. 10, the school had also been known as the Bowery Bay School,
for a school that was established in Steinway in 1734, and as a Frogtown School.
The latter name was also applied to a poor community located near a swamp north
of Astoria Boulevard. The area was eventually filled in and redeveloped.

The surrounding neighborhoods were largely rural
and sparsely settled during the school's early existence. Many of the pupils
were children of nearby farmers. The school was headed by Emma Fagan for thirty
years. It had capacity for fifty-two students, divided into six classes, one
for each year. The six rows of desks were arranged according to the age and
ability of the students. The beginners were seated at the smaller desks in the
front, while the more advanced students occupied the back rows.

By 1910, the one-room schoolhouse was considered
antiquated in contrast to the public education system that was quickly expanding
in more urban areas as a result of reform movements and to meet the needs of
immigrants. Local concern was voiced that the school would be phased out in
favor of a new institution in Corona. While the one-room schoolhouse was closed
by 1925, a temporary school building was still in use at the time Parks acquired
the property from the Board of Education in 1934.

New buildings and increased population in the neighborhoods
necessitated the construction of a new playground which opened to the public
in December 1935. Subsequent decades saw the playground transformed into a sitting
area that was popular with patrons of the public library once located across
the street. When the library moved in the 1970s so did many of the park's regular
visitors. Rejuvination of the park as a garden has been accomplished through
a partnership between Parks and the Jackson Heights Neighborhood Association
(formed in 1982).